I have been playing hooky from everything and away for a couple of nights.........Not a long trip , just a get-away for two nights. The weather was just to good for getting away and doing some camping , 79 - 80 during the day and about 60 at night with clear skies. Or ... short sleeves during the day and long sleeves at night with some great sleeping tempertures.
Joe Fennell (Paddling Gator ) had cabin fever and so did I so when he asked if I knew of someplace to go camping for a couple of nights , I know of the right place. We decided to take the backpacks and hit the woods for two nights just to get away and take life easy.
I like to go to Tosohatchee Wildlife Management area since it is 30,000 acres of protected land. They have hiking trails , the Florida Trail goes threw it and all sorts of other things like hunting and fishing. Plus they only have primitive camping which means you have to have a tent or hammock and no RV.
http://myfwc.com/viewing/recreation/wma ... osohatchee
I reserved a campsite a couple of weeks early for the 23 rd and 24th. YES... They do charge to camp there $4.00 per person per night unless you are a Thur Hiker on the Florida Trail. Since Joe and I weren't but drove in and then walked to the campsites we had to pay. :roll: We were not purists by any means as far as backpacking on this trip. There was a cooler full of ice in Joe's truck , we had lanterns with us ( used one night ) and even the comfortable camp chairs. We did carry the normal stuff into the campsite in the backpacks. :wink:
Orlando is quite a ways away from there but the light at night from Orlando makes a nice night light , just a mild glow.
Well to make a long story short , we set up camp , had a supper of Jambalaya with sausage and shrimp in it , Joe was the cook for that supper and it was really good. After-wards we sat around the fire and enjoyed the evening till it was time to crawl into the hammocks for the night.
This was a new moon so the night was dark but the Owls sure sounded off ( all night long ) while the armadillos crashed threw the palmettos sounding like a small tank invading the campsite. If I go camping and don't hear the Owls I consider the trip not complete , they make it a trip for me.
Tuesday we explored the area since Joe had not been there before and even managed to go down some roads that a Jeep was made for. That evening we had another fire and enjoyed a supper by it then sat back with a beverage and discussed ( speculated ) how Piper managed to get his Dutch Ovens and all his gear along with all the food in one pirogue without sinking. Somehow conversations always come around to food while staring into a campfire or as some folks call it ... A campers/backpackers TV. :lol:
There were other topics but broken with time out periods to swat mosquitoes since they decided to join us for the conversation. As luck would have it the armadillos were back that night while we were in the hammocks , they just like being around campers or so it seams.
Got up in the morning to some fog which moved in overnight and while in the hammocks I could hear water dripping on the rain fly , sounded like a light rain but nothing more then the fog , condensing on the leaves and falling down on the rain fly.
Chuck.
Joe Fennell (Paddling Gator ) had cabin fever and so did I so when he asked if I knew of someplace to go camping for a couple of nights , I know of the right place. We decided to take the backpacks and hit the woods for two nights just to get away and take life easy.
I like to go to Tosohatchee Wildlife Management area since it is 30,000 acres of protected land. They have hiking trails , the Florida Trail goes threw it and all sorts of other things like hunting and fishing. Plus they only have primitive camping which means you have to have a tent or hammock and no RV.
http://myfwc.com/viewing/recreation/wma ... osohatchee
I reserved a campsite a couple of weeks early for the 23 rd and 24th. YES... They do charge to camp there $4.00 per person per night unless you are a Thur Hiker on the Florida Trail. Since Joe and I weren't but drove in and then walked to the campsites we had to pay. :roll: We were not purists by any means as far as backpacking on this trip. There was a cooler full of ice in Joe's truck , we had lanterns with us ( used one night ) and even the comfortable camp chairs. We did carry the normal stuff into the campsite in the backpacks. :wink:
Orlando is quite a ways away from there but the light at night from Orlando makes a nice night light , just a mild glow.
Well to make a long story short , we set up camp , had a supper of Jambalaya with sausage and shrimp in it , Joe was the cook for that supper and it was really good. After-wards we sat around the fire and enjoyed the evening till it was time to crawl into the hammocks for the night.
This was a new moon so the night was dark but the Owls sure sounded off ( all night long ) while the armadillos crashed threw the palmettos sounding like a small tank invading the campsite. If I go camping and don't hear the Owls I consider the trip not complete , they make it a trip for me.
Tuesday we explored the area since Joe had not been there before and even managed to go down some roads that a Jeep was made for. That evening we had another fire and enjoyed a supper by it then sat back with a beverage and discussed ( speculated ) how Piper managed to get his Dutch Ovens and all his gear along with all the food in one pirogue without sinking. Somehow conversations always come around to food while staring into a campfire or as some folks call it ... A campers/backpackers TV. :lol:
There were other topics but broken with time out periods to swat mosquitoes since they decided to join us for the conversation. As luck would have it the armadillos were back that night while we were in the hammocks , they just like being around campers or so it seams.
Got up in the morning to some fog which moved in overnight and while in the hammocks I could hear water dripping on the rain fly , sounded like a light rain but nothing more then the fog , condensing on the leaves and falling down on the rain fly.
Chuck.